FOODS — HUMAN NUTRITION. 667 



the force, speed, and power of the animate machine, just as there are formulas 

 for determining these attributes in the case of an inanimate machine. 



Experiments with cattle showed a relation between the effort of an animal 

 and its weight, and between its effort and the dimensions of certain muscles. 

 The speed of the animate motor is affected by the length of the limbs, by the 

 angular velocity at which the various levers move in a vertical plane, and by 

 the number of movements in a unit of time. 



If / represents the mean effort, P the weight of the motor, n the ratio of / 

 to P, V the mean speed, // the height of the motor, n' the ratio of v to H, and 

 fv the power of the motor, fv=nn' (PH). Experiments demonstrate that / 

 increases with P, while v increases to a maximum and then diminishes with 

 increase in P. A graphic curve illustrates these relations. It may be possible 

 to make the coefficients n and «' utilizable practically, their value depending 

 on the age of the motor, or anatomical and physiological peculiarities, such 

 as the dimensions of some parts of the animate machine, the frequency of 

 respiratory movements or of the pulse, the temperature, etc. 



In the experiments with cattle it was found that the maximum effort was 

 about four times the mean, and the maximum speed about three times the mean. 



If F equals the maximum effort, / the mean effort, a the ratio of / to i^, y 

 the maximum speed, v the mean speed, 6 the ratio of v to V, and m the 

 utilizable power of the animate machine, m=fv=iab) FV. Since a and 6 

 appear to be constants for animals of the same species, age, etc., the product 

 of the maximum speed and effort of an animal is the measure of its utilizable 

 power. 



Other analogies between animate and inanimate machines are presented. 



A new calorimeter bomb with special advantag'es as to material of con- 

 struction and method of operation, S. W. Pabb (Jour. Indus, and Engin. 

 Chem., 4 {1912), No. 10, pp. 746-748, figs, //). — The advantages of the calorimeter 

 here described are : It is constructed of a new alloy of nickel, copper, tungsten, 

 and chromium, with smaller amounts of manganese, aluminum, titanium, boron, 

 and silicon, the alloy being very much cheaper tlian platinum, equally resistant 

 to acids, and far less liable to fracture than enamel ; rubber gaskets are sub- 

 stituted for the usual lead ones, permitting the securing of a perfect seal with 

 the minimum of compression, this substitution being possible through the devis- 

 ing of a method of construction which prevents burning of the rubber ; an 

 improved form of valve for the admission of oxygen and release of gases after 

 combustion ; and a simple and efficient method of fastening the cap and sealing 

 the cover. 



Some tests on a new calorimeter bomb, R. H. Jesse, Jr. (Jour. Indus, and 

 Engin. Chem., 4 (1912), Xo. 10, pp. 748, 749). — ^An account is given of tests of 

 the calorimeter bomb described above. 



Tests with acids showed that the material of which the apparatus is con- 

 structed is sufficiently acid proof. Indirect proof indicates that the substitution 

 of rubber gaskets for lead did not affect i-esults, the amount of rubber exposed 

 to the gases being a ring only 0.001 of an inch wide, and the gases being cooled 

 by passing through a very narrow space between masses of cool metal before 

 coming in contact with the rubber. No odor of burnt rubber was noted, and the 

 constancy of the results was such as would hardly have been possible had any 

 rubber at all been burnt. Tests with sugar showed that the apparatus is 

 accurate within 0.07 per cent and tests with benzoic acid showed an accuracy 

 within 0.04 per cent, which is as close an agreement as could be expected when 

 temperatures are measured with a mercury thermometer, and which compares 

 very favorably with the best work of electrical thermometers. 



